


Impending

by Jeni182



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Soft Boys, Soft Hockey Boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25213003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jeni182/pseuds/Jeni182
Summary: Andrew is having feelings of impending doom, and Neil comforts him.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 9
Kudos: 185





	Impending

Sometimes, Andrew has an overwhelming sense of doom.

Dread.

Something terrible is about to happen and he doesn’t know why or who or what or when but it’s just there. It’s just there in the pit of his stomach and in the center of his chest.

He curls around it on his bunk. He does this when he wants to keep it in. Like maybe if he can stay in this position long enough, the thing won’t happen, and it won’t matter anymore.

He closes his eyes.

He breathes.

This is what Bee says to do. Breathe and focus and ask yourself why you’re afraid.

Andrew doesn’t know why. He looks at his phone long enough to check everyone’s locations. In class, in class, at the stadium, on Perimeter Road.

That last one was Neil. He’s due back from his afternoon class soon. Andrew tugs the blanket up to his shoulder so it would look like he was sleeping.

Safe. Safe. Safe. Safe.

Everyone is safe and fine.

So why? What is this feeling?

Creeping, creeping. It’s deep in his belly, and Andrew pictures a blackened hand, decayed and rotting. It works its way slowly, as these things do. Up, up, up. Up to his chest, lingering just long enough so it’s hard to breathe. Up, up, up to his throat, so it tightens and aches. Up still to his head, where things feel fuzzy and dark.

 _What?_ Andrews asks himself. He hates this. This certainty that something was coming. This happens sometimes, and most of the time absolutely nothing happens but Andrew being in a terrible mood for a day or two. But a few times, something has happened, including Baltimore.

He hasn’t been able to push this feeling aside since then.

He hears the dorm room door open and close, the sound of keys being tossed on the counter, a bag being dropped on the floor. He pulls the blanket tighter around himself.

The bedroom door opens. “Andrew?”

He squeezes his eyes shut. He doesn’t really know why. Neil didn’t do anything. But he fucking hates feeling like this and he hates Neil being there when he does.

He hears Neil come into room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He slips off his shoes.

“Hey,” he says, placing a soft hand on Andrew’s shoulder. He sighs. “I know you’re not asleep. You’re wound tighter than Kevin at practice.”

Andrew rolls his eyes. He had intended to remain silent, but…well… “Really? You can’t make a fucking comparison of anything without it being exy related, can you?”

“Nope. What’s going on? You okay?”

 _No._ “Yes.”

“Hmmm.” Neil sits on the bed next to Andrew. He runs a hand through his hair, and although Andrew was really determined to keep this horrible feeling going, he can’t help but relax into it. “I think you’re a liar, but that’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. Do you want me to leave?”

Andrew doesn’t say anything. He can’t. Because no, he doesn’t want Neil to leave. But admitting that felt like admitting something else entirely. So, he stays quiet, and he cannot quell the surge of disappointment when Neil stands from the bed.

“Scoot.”

Andrew opens his eyes and looks up at Neil. “What?”

“Scoot over, I’m coming in.”

With another eye roll to show Neil how annoyed he is (he isn’t) with this entire thing, he scoots. Neil gets into the bed behind him, slipping under the blanket with a practiced ease that came from sharing a bed and sharing each other. He curls around Andrew’s back, slipping an arm over his waist and lacing their fingers together.

Andrew closes his eyes again and clenches his jaw because he doesn’t know what to do with this. He wants this with the kind of ache that he felt in his bones and having it didn’t make the ache go away. It just made him more aware of it.

Neil kisses the back of his neck. “Thanks for helping me with that English paper,” he whispers. “I got an A. I think my teacher was surprised.”

That’s what he does. He whispers about school and exy and nothing until slowly the feeling in his brain starts a slow descent. The hand, now tanned and scarred and freckled, makes its way down, down, down. It touches parts of him on its way, soothing his throat, caressing his chest, calming his stomach.

By the time Neil was whispering that Andrew was so, so good and that he was so, so tired and maybe they should nap, Andrew’s eyes were already closing. He shifts in closer to Neil until he can feel his even breaths on his shoulder and thinks

today is a good day.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!  
> Come say hi to me on [tumblr!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jtmann182)


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